New website and Pod Delusion podcast

New websiteYou might have already noticed that we’ve got our new website up and running at FindingAda.com. It’s very much a beta release, so if you notice anything going awry, please do let us know via our UserVoice forum. (The blog is due a bit of TLC soon too – it looks so different to the main site because it’s built in WordPress and hosted separately.)

We have been working with a company called Evectors who have built the main site for us on their Pages platform. This allows us to do a lot of things we haven’t been able to before. The most important is that you can now claim your profile as a Woman in STEM and collate the stories about you in one spot. It also allows users, of all genders, to sign up to take part in Ada Lovelace Day and post their stories about their heroines.

Over the coming months, we hope to refine and expand the functionality and content, particularly our data from 2009 and 2010, which was a bit patchy in places. We want to create a useful, evergreen resource for everyone in STEM, from women looking to find advice and communities to join, to conference organisers looking for speakers, to teachers looking for women to come into their school and inspire their kids.

Evectors deserve our heartfelt thanks for the hard work they have put into this site, but we would not be where we are without the hard work that Technophobia did, both last year on the pledge and earlier this year in helping us think through what we needed the site to do. Both companies worked on the FindingAda site pro bono, and we’ve benefited immensely from their knowledge, expertise and insight. We wouldn’t be where we are without them, so thank you both.

The Pod DelusionI had a great chat with Liz Lutgendorff of the Pod Delusion podcast the other day about Ada Lovelace Day, why we do it, what we hope to achieve, etc. That episode, No. 103, is now up online and we come on at about 27:44. Do pop over and have a listen!